Set for its second annual running in the fall of 2011 along the streets of this northern Georgia city that's often called the "carpet capital of the world" thanks to its plentiful carpeting, dye and home construction industry, the Dalton Half Marathon, 5K Run/Walk and 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk makes its debut as one of the many races being staged across the country in 2011 by the USRA Half Marathon Series.

Though the areas around the city are marked by the sight of rolling mountainous terrain and the trees of the Chattahoochee National Forest area off in the distance, the terrain for the race is mostly flat and fast by contrast, as it follows an out-and-back course that starts and finishes in the city of Dalton, which lies just east of the Interstate 75 highway between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn.

From the starting line on Dalton's King Street, near the intersection with Selvidge Street, runners follow what is roughly a clockwise loop race route through the city, starting out with turns onto Hamilton Street, Franklin Street and Thornton Avenue. After turns on Waugh Street and Valley Drive, runners next head west along Walnut Avenue, toward the Dalton Shopping Center and the hills of the national forest area in the distance.

The course then follows a loop shape that sweeps northward along Tibbs Road, taking the field along a combination of residential streets and more commercial districts, then looping around along the North Bypass road and onto Chattanooga Road, which runners then head south along toward the same stretch of Thornton Avenue they ran earlier in the race. The final mile or so of the race brings runners back onto Hamilton, with one out-and-back turnaround, and then back to the starting line area for the race finish.

Race
Weather & Climate

Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northern Georgia, roughly 90 miles north of Atlanta and just over 30 miles south of Chattanooga, Tenn., the city of Dalton typically experiences much milder and drier weather conditions in October than in the preceding few months, as the area can see fairly hot and rainy weather in the summer. In October, the city's average monthly temperatures range between 73°F and 49°F, while rainfall totals average just over 3.3 inches for the month.